Enemy Papers

by Barry B. Longyear

  Enemy Papers

  Barry B. Longyear

  The entire Enemy Mine Series gathered in one volume: The Talman, Enemy Mine (The expanded Nebula and Hugo Award winner that inspired the 20th Century Fox motion picture starring Dennis Quid and Lou Gossett, Jr.), the novels The Tomorrow Testament and The Last Enemy, plus more. Talma is the pat of choosing paths. The Enemy Papers is the saga of how humans and their enemies used Talma to end war.” This was one of those rare times when a story was so good that even I could see “Hugo” written all over it.” —Isaac Asimov on Enemy Mine

  INTRODUCTION

  Beginning with “Enemy Mine” and The Tomorrow Testament, and continuing with The Last Enemy the Enemy series spans almost the entirety of my writing career to date. There have been a lot of changes in me and in publishing since “Enemy” first appeared in 1979, but there is a strange continuity in the universe that saw three hundred worlds at war as Dracs and humans worked out the steps of their deadly dance.

  I am very excited at the prospect of presenting the entire series, this time with “Enemy Mine” greatly expanded, in addition to the portions of the Drac bible, The Talman, that I was able to retrieve with my far-future fax machine.

  Incidentally, the stories of The Talman have never before been published. It is a bible by aliens, set on an alien planet, about aliens and for alien readers. For the first time for readers, there is a unique choice. If you read the selections from The Talman first, you will get to read “Enemy Mine” from the perspective of a Drac. If you read “Enemy” first, you can read it from the perspective of a human.

  I have included the Drac vocabulary in this volume, in addition to two very different essays. “On Alien Languages” tells some of the funny business of making up alien languages, and “Run Drac Run” tells about the origins and continuation of the Enemy series.

  Three persons who deserve historical mention and grateful thanks for their suggestions and support concerning the Enemy series are George Scithers, Isaac Asimov, and Victoria Shochet. The one who deserves the most thanks for her suggestions, support, encouragement, no-nonsense discouragement when needed, not to mention putting up with the author, is Regina B. Longyear, wife, advisor, critic, and defender of the taxpayer.

  TALAMAN

  The Talman was outlined and partially written as background material for the Enemy series. Although it was never intended for publication, the idea of reading an alien bible interested a number of readers, which is why I include it here, This is what I have of the work, and if enough hue and cry is raised, I might be coaxed into writing the remainder.

  “The Story of Uhe” was first written, in Earth terms, about eleven thousand years ago. The origin of “The Myth of Aakva,” passed down through Sindie’s oral tradition, predates it by several thousand years.

  KODA SINDA

  The Myth of Aakva

  Sindie was the world.

  And the world

  Was said to be made by Aakva,

  The God of the Day Light.

  Aakva was said to make on the world

  Special creatures of yellow skin

  And hands and feet each of three fingers.

  And it was said to make the creatures of one kind,

  That each could bear its young,

  Or the young of another.

  And it was said to make the creatures

  Make thought and give voice

  That the creatures could worship

  The Parent of All.

  And it was said that Aakva

  Gave its children signs and visions

  That they could study,

  And from them learn and obey the wishes of Aakva.

  For this service,

  The God of the Day Light

  Was said to set upon the world

  The plants and animals to feed and protect its children.

  Aakva was said to set in the night sky

  A star for each of its children.

  Each child’s star would guide its footsteps

  Along the paths of right during life,

  And to Aakva’s side after life.

  Aakva called its children the Sindie,

  After the world it had made.

  And the Sindie were made to walk upright

  As did no other creature.

  This was held to be a proof

  That the Sindie were the children

  Of the God of the Day Light.

  The visions and signs of Aakva

  Were complex and mysterious.

  And it was said that Aakva charged the Sindie

  To appoint servants

  Who would make of their lives

  The study of Aakva’s messages.

  The Sindie chose from among their numbers

  The ones who would study

  The messages of Aakva.

  The servants of Aakva

  Chose from among their number

  A chief who would be responsible

  For speaking to the Sindie

  For the God of the Day Light.

  The first chief was Rhada.

  And Rhada had the servants

  Go among the Sindie and learn

  All of the signs and visions

  That were known.

  The servants gathered this knowledge

  And gave it to Rhada.

  For twelve days and twelve nights,

  The chief of the servants

  Studied the signs and visions,

  And sorted the false from the true,

  And the tribal lays

  From the true Laws of Aakva.

  On the thirteenth day,

  Rhada spoke to the servants

  Of what it had learned.

  And Rhada said:

  “It is truth

  That Aakva is the God of the Day Light

  And we are its children;

  “It is truth

  That the world and everything upon it

  Is our gift from Aakva;

  “It is Law

  That violating the wishes of Aakva is tabu;

  “It is Law

  That the servants of Aakva

  Will speak the wishes of Aakva;

  “It is Law

  That one who disputes a true vision from Aakva

  Will suffer ordeal;

  “It is Law

  That one who makes false claim to a vision

  Will suffer ordeal;

  “It is Law

  That at least one child out of three

  Be made by joining

  The fluid of one with the fluid of another;

  “It is Law

  That the one who bears the child

  Is the parent of the child;

  “It is Law

  That the parent shall keep and provide

  For the child

  So long as the child is in need;

  “It is Law

  That the child shall keep and provide

  For the parent

  So long as the parent is in need;

  “It is Law

  That the dead are to be burned;

  “It is Law

  That murder is forbidden;

  “It is Law

  That the murderer is to be burned

  With the murdered;

  “It is Law

  That theft from another

  Or from the tribe is forbidden;

  “It is Law

  That the thief shall pay to its victim

  In kind for its theft;

  “It is Law

  That to make war is to murder and steal.”

  And Rhada ordered the servants

  To go among the Sindie

  And teach the Laws.

  It was promised by Rhada,

  In the name of Aakva,
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  That as long as the Sindie listened

  To Aakva’s servants

  And followed the laws

  The God of the Day Light made,

  There would be peace and plenty.

  The Sindie listened to the servants and

  Learned and followed the Laws.

  They made sacrifice to Aakva through its servants,

  And the Sindie prospered and multiplied.

  Generations grew and died,

  And when Summat was the chief of the servants,

  One day a hunter named Daultha

  Doubted the laws and the servants of Aakva.

  Even as Daultha doubted,

  It was said that the God of the Day Light

  Watched its servants to see what they would do.

  Summat ordered the servants

  To bring the light to Daultha’s eyes,

  And the servants of Aakva scolded Daultha,

  But Daultha only laughed at their anger.

  Daultha was the chief of the hunt

  And much admired by the tribe.

  The servants of Aakva feared ordeal,

  And did not challenge Daultha.

  Other Sindie, seeing this,

  Joined Daultha in laughing

  At the laws, the servants, and

  The God of the Day Light.

  The servants of Aakva answered only

  With silence.

  The chief of the servants

  Cast its gaze upon the morning sky,

  And Summat said:

  “Aakva, God of the Day Light,

  Daultha poisons the young of the Sindie against you.

  Your servants are weak and faithless.

  I am the chief of your servants,

  The teacher of these cowards,

  And the blame is mine.”

  Summat raised its stone knife

  Toward the face of Aakva.

  “With this knife, God of the Day Light,

  I leave to your might and anger

  What your servants would not do.”

  Summat then plunged the knife

  Through its womb and belly

  Until the heart was reached.

  The servants of Aakva,

  Seeing Summat’s still form,

  Were shamed, and for shame

  Spilled their own blood upon the ground.

  The God of the Day Light

  Looked upon the bodies of its servants,

  and sought out the chief of the hunt.

  And to Daultha, Aakva said:

  “Hunter, you have laughed at my Laws.

  See you then the world without them.”

  And the God of the Day Light

  Made the lands to the west foul and poisonous,

  And it made the mountains to the east erupt and melt.

  In the space between, Aakva set the Sindie,

  One tribe upon another,

  And war covered the world.

  Daultha saw the world on fire

  And heard the cries.

  And the hunter begged Aakva

  To return the Laws to the Sindie.

  Aakva appeared that night

  In a vision to Daultha.

  And Aakva said:

  “You have angered me, Daultha.

  All I did

  I did for you and your kind.

  And you scorned me,

  Disobeyed my laws,

  And laughed at my servants.

  You have their blood

  And the blood of my world

  On your hands.”

  Daultha fell to the ground and begged

  The God of the Day Light

  To forgive the Sindie

  And end their punishment

  For Daultha’s wrong.

  And Aakva said:

  “Daultha, I will have mercy on the Sindie;

  The wars will end.

  You have cost me, though,

  Summat, my chief servant.

  Daultha, you will take Summat’s place

  And gather again my servants.”

  Daultha begged that this should be.

  Then Aakva heaved and cut the world,

  Raised great mountains,

  Split the land with wide seas,

  Dividing the tribes of the Sindie.

  And Aakva gave the Laws to Daultha

  To bring to the Sindie.

  And Aakva said:

  “When all the Sindie once more

  Worship me and follow my Laws, Daultha,

  There again will be peace and plenty.”

  Daultha gathered again the servants

  Of the God of the Day Light.

  They brought the Laws

  To all of the tribes of the Sindie.

  And the lesson of Daultha

  Was passed down through many ages,

  Bringing the Sindie peace and plenty.

  All praised the wisdom of Aakva.

  KODA OVIDA

  The Story of Uhe

  The peoples of the Sindie were divided by the Akkujah Mountains and the Great Cut into the four Great Tribes: the Mavedah, the Diruvedah, the Kuvedah, and the Irrvedah. And the four tribes obeyed the ancient Laws of Aakva.

  Bantumeh ruled the Mavedah, for Bantumeh ruled its clan, and the people of Bantumeh’s clan were the best and wisest of the Mavedah.

  The Mavedah ruled the Madah west of the Akkujah Mountains, north to the Ocean of Ice, south to the boiling waters of the Yellow Sea, and west to where Aakva slept in the muds and waters of the Land of Death. The tribe of Bantumeh lived not in any fixed place, but roamed the Madah following the game.

  The one called Mijii ruled the Diruvedah, and its tribe hunted for game in the lands of the Dirudah, east of the mountains, past the blue lakes, to the poison air of the Melting Mountains where Aakva began its day in fire. And the Dirudah extended from where the Great Cut split the land, south to the Yellow Sea.

  North of the Great Cut and the Dirudah was the Kudah, and the tribe of the Kuvedah was ruled by the twins, Hesheh and Vintah. Their rule extended north to the cold waters where the ice and darkness met. And there the Kuvedah fished and hunted for game.

  Tocchah ruled the Irrvedah and the Irrvedah ruled from the heights of the Akkujah Mountains and the depths of the Great Cut and all in between, south to the Yellow Sea. The Irrvedah ate little flesh, save that of the swimming creatures from the waters of the Great Cut. At the bottom of the Cut, and in the mountains, the Irrvedah made plants to grow at will, for it was these plants that fed the Irrvedah.

  All of the tribes of the Sindie lived according to the sacred tabus spoken generations before by the Doubter Daultha.

  For the Irrvedah, the flesh of creatures that stalked the dry land was tabu. For any tribe to cross the Great Cut or the mountains of Akkujah was tabu. For the Irrvedah to leave the cut or the mountains and enter either the Madah, Kudah, or Dirudah was tabu. For any tribe to place an obligation on another tribe either of service, sacrifice, or obligation was tabu.

  Because the lands of the flesh hunters were divided by the land of the plant growers, the land creatures flourished there and there was no cause for mistrust or jealousy.

  There was peace and plenty among the four great tribes.

  All praised the wisdom of Aakva’s servants.

  The year of the black rains came and left the Madah barren. Those lands west of the Akkujah saw no water, and the ground cracked and turned to fine powder. The noon sky burned with a blinding blue, while the morning and evening skies were the reds and yellows of cooling iron. The lakes and rivers became mud and dust, and the creatures that swam within them died. The Ocean of Ice became a black sea of putrid oil. The wild creatures of the land fled from the Madah to the mountains, and from there to the lands of the Diruvedah and the Kuvedah.

  The proud hunters of the Mavedah could not blood their spears, and so they watched their children cry and grow thin. Soon the Mavedah became as barren as their land. There was an end to love and conception. The hunters
clawed at the land, gathering roots, insects, and the skins of the few trees that still lived. But in time even these were gone. The hunters watched their children scream and stare.

  The hunters clawed at the bottoms of streams and wellbeds, chasing the precious water as it left the ground below. But the water ran more swiftly than the hunters could dig. The hunters watched their children die.

  The low, slow beat of the death drums started and their rumble filled the Madah both day and night.

  The constant prayer wails of the Mavedah were sent upward to the God of the Day Light, but the only answer was the oven-breath of the windstorm. The trees and grasses of the Madah withered and burned. Even the wingmite refused to cross the sky.

  And the lips and tongues of the Mavedah became too dry to wail.

  The Mavedah became too tired to pray.

  The beating of the death drums fed upon itself. Instead of burning the dead, the Mavedah closed its eyes and ate the dead.

  It was Bantumeh, the ruler of the masters of the Mavedah, who sent forth the call. The masters of the other clans of the Mavedah trudged to Bantumeh’s fire to discuss plans. But after they ate again of the dead, the masters had not the voice to discuss plans.

  Near another fire was a lower servant of Aakva named Uhe. It was not very tall, nor handsome, nor strong. In its eyes, though, could be found the water the wells had lost, for the lowly servant cried. That night Uhe sat and watched its child Leuno die of starvation. The child knew its parent to the end. The dull eyes saw little, but the cracked lips set in that drawn face whispered Uhe’s name before Leuno died. Uhe released its child’s hand and watched as the food preparers carried Leuno’s small body toward the masters’ fire.

  Uhe looked into the depths of its own fire and whispered to the God of the Day Light, “This, then, is your promise of plenty for keeping your Law of Peace, Aakva? Is this the mercy and bounty of the Parent of All?”

  There was, for an answer, only silence. There was a cry and Uhe lifted its gaze until it saw a child gnawing upon a piece of cured tent skin, while the child’s parent, a once-proud warrior, watched with envy in its eyes. Near one of the hunters’ fires, eight sat waiting for a child to make its last breath. When that breath ended, the pitifully wasted corpse would be apportioned among the hunters. Uhe studied the faces of the hunters and saw that one of them was mouthing the curse of quick death. The curse was for the child. The one who gave the curse was the child’s parent. In the parent’s eyes was only hunger.

  There was fear in Uhe’s heart, but its rage chased its fear into the shadows,